Worth the Risk

plucking out the weeds that seemed to have sprouted since she left this morning for a job interview. She stood up, her back aching. How had Aunt Callie done this when she’d been over eighty? “Believe what?”
    Amber clutched her backpack to her chest and kept talking. “Today Mrs. Geffen had us draw lots for the proctors for the cooking contest.”
    “So?” Lexi yanked up another weed. “You knew there would be a proctor who would watch you prepare and bake your dessert. They just want to make sure the contestants don’t buy it somewhere or have their mother make it.”
    “Yeah, right, but talk about luck. Guess who I drew?”
    Lexi could tell from Amber’s tone it wasn’t good. According to the contest rules, a pastry chef or a pastry chef’s assistant would be a proctor. “Who did you get?”
    “Monsieur Broussard. He’s the pastry chef at Marché.”
    Lexi didn’t know him, but since her encounter with Rick Fullerton at Black Jack’s, she’d been concerned about her relationship with the chef/owner. He’d come this week as usual to select the best of her baby vegetables, but hadn’t been very friendly and he’d purchased fewer vegetables than she’d expected. She wondered if he had found another supplier. With baby vegetables in such demand, a number of local farmers were now cultivating them.
    “What’s wrong with Monsieur Broussard? After all, Marché is known for its fabulous desserts. I understand he comes from France.”
    “You weren’t there the day he did the demo of crème brûlée. He was mean and snobby and hard to understand. And he didn’t even try to make a healthier version for our class like he was supposed to.” Amber sighed, the deep exasperated sound she made when she was really frustrated. “He’s going to make me so nervous I’ll goof up.”
    Lexi sympathized; she didn’t like anyone looking over her shoulder while she worked either. “You won’t make a mistake,” she assured her sister. “You’ve prepared the recipe many times, right? You know how to do it by heart. Just relax. The chef is merely checking to make sure no one cheats.”
    “Easy for you to say.” Amber stomped off toward the house. It would be nice to believe she was going to study, but that would be wishful thinking.
    “I have some news,” Lexi called after her sister.
    Amber turned, the sullen look still on her face. “What?”
    “I’ve been offered a great summer position with Gilfoy and O’Malley. They’re one of the biggest firms in the city. It could lead to a permanent position when I pass the accountant’s exam.”
    “That’s awesome!” Amber sounded as if she was genuinely thrilled for Lexi. “When do you start?”
    “Next Monday.” A lot of people had been interviewed yet she’d been selected.
    “Who’s going to take care of the garden?” Her sister’s surly expression had returned.
    “I’ll work every weekend. I’ve hired Joey Tran to help you during the week.”
    “Help me?” Amber said it like it was a crime.
    “You know what to do. Train Joey. He’ll be fantastic.” She doubted Joey would need much training. All he had to do was follow a watering schedule and weed. He worked with his mother at the community garden. He was probably better at it than Amber, but Lexi thought giving her sister a little responsibility would help her mature.
    “I’m going to win the baking contest. When I’m interning with Charmayne, I won’t have time for the garden.”
    “If you win,” Lexi replied with all the patience she could marshal, “I’ll figure out something. We can’t just let the garden—”
    “You don’t think I’m going to win, do you?” Amber’s voice teetered on hysteria.
    “I hope you do.”
    “No, you don’t. You want me to lose so I can be a slave in your precious garden.”
    Lexi battled the impulse to say something sarcastic. “It’s not my garden,” she replied in as level a tone as she could muster. “Aunt Callie started it long before we came to live with her. The money it generates allows us to live here and go to school.”
    “But you’ll be working, making plenty of money,” Amber retorted. “We don’t need the garden.”
    “Yes, we do,” she replied matter-of-factly. They’d been over this too many times to count. “I have to repay student loans and save money for your college education. If we keep the garden, you won’t have to take on costly student loans.”
    “Like I care!”
    Lexi watched her sister bounce